Yesterday, a district judge of the 345th District Court granted the Temporary Restraining Order requested by Wild Boar Meats, LLC to suspend the emergency rules put in place by the Texas Department of Agriculture regarding Kaput Feral Hog Bait.

The emergency rules declared the hog bait to be a “state limited use” pesticide, which imposes safeguards against misuse of the product, including limiting sale to licensed individuals and limiting purchase by licensed and trained applicators. The product label requires special feeders to limit the bait to hogs only, public notice requirements, etc.

The immediate effect of yesterday’s ruling is to temporarily do away with those safeguards.

The Temporary Restraining Order temporarily removes all TDA restrictions on the bait.

The Kaput Feral Hog Bait had already been registered for use in Texas following the approval of the product by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as an unrestricted pesticide, similar to household rat bait. However, the agency decided additional protections for hunters, landowners and consumers were needed before the product could be used in Texas.

Beyond this clarification, the Texas Department of Agriculture will not comment further on pending litigation regarding this issue.